Gate for swinging bridges



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0-. K. OORD'REY. GATE FOR SWINGING BRIDGES.

7210'; 41mph 11,

(No Model; 1 3 2 Sheets-'-Sheet 2.

0. K. GORDREY. GATE FOR SWINGING BRIDGES.

Patented Nov. '15, 1887;

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' a citizen of the United States, and a resident 5o structed that whenthe oscillating post 0 is in rock-shaft; I, crank-arm on end ofrock-shaft;

UNITED Tarts CHARLES con'nnnror BELLEFONTAINE, orrro.

GATE FOR SWINGING BRIDGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,130, dated November15, 1887.

Application filed August 19, 1886.

T0 to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES K. GORDREY,

of Bellefontaine, in the county of Logan and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Gate for Swinging Bridges, of which thefollowing is a specification. Y

My device is an improvement in gates for use in connection with swingingbridges, and is designed to close the entrance to a bridge as soon as orbefore the bridge begins to swing.

Figure 1 is a view of my gate open with the bridge ready to be swungopen. Fig.v 2 is a plan view of the devices underneath the bridge, thefioor of the bridge being removed to show the parts. Fig. 3 is a detailview of my trip, rock-shaft, oscillating post, and gate, showing thegate in upright position, and also, in dotted lines, in position acrossthe street.

A represents my gate, pivoted at B to the side of the oscillatingsupport 0. D isa weight attached to rear end by chain or wire E. F' is aswinging support for front end of gate when down; G, rock-shaft; H,journals for K L, diverging lugs on arm I; Q, lantern on gate A, whichby its position serves as a signal at night to show whether gate is openor closed; R, trip or rod on' swinging bridge, that strikes the lugs K Las the bridge swings around; S, stationary piece under floor of bridge,to which the trip R is pivoted at T; U, chain attached to trip R andpassing around pulleys V, and attached to a hand wheel or lever, \V. Yrepresents the perpendicular face of the wall at the side of the stream.

The operation of my device is substantially as follows: At all swingingbridges in cities, over streams and other places, there is more or lessdanger, when the bridge is swung around, of people rushing or fallingoff the pier in the opening made'and into the water below, andespecially are these places dangerous in the dark, and persons are oftendrowned by walking into these traps, and even teams are driven intothem. To obviatethis danger I mount on the dock or pier a gate, A, on anoscillating upright post, 0, and pivot it in a bracket on one side ofthe post. This bracket is so con- Serial No. 211,356. (No model.)

an upright position the weighted end of the gate A rests against thepost and prevents the gate going beyond a perpendicular; but when thepost is leaning forward, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, the gate isallowed to assume a horizontal position and rest upon the top of thepost. While the top of the post is in an inclined position (shown inFig. 3) the pivot of the gate is above thelevel of the top of the post;but as the post is raised to a perpendicular, the gate being pivoted ina bracket on the rear of the post and below the top, the top of the postrises higher than the pivot, causing the gate to assume an approximatelyvertical position again, while the momentum of the gate carriesit pastthe perpendicular until its bottom end rests against the post. The post0 is attached at its lower end to the rock-shaft G, which has an arm, I,with lugs K L thereon. At the other side of the bridgeway I may have asimilar gate closing toward the first and operated by asimilarrock-shaft, arm,and lugs, except that the arm I and lugs K L must belocated on the upper side of the rock-shaft instead of the lower side.

()n the lower side of the bridge I attach a rod or trip a foot or so inlength, as shown in Fig. 2. When the gate begins to swing, the trip Rstrikes the lug L, rocking the rockshaft G, throwing the post 0 forward,and allowing the gate to fall into position with support F resting onthe ground, closing the approach to the bridge. As the bridge swings, itwill be seen that the rod It moves the lug L around until it is in ahorizontal instead of a perpendicular position, and brings the lug Kinto a vertical position. \Vhen the bridge is closed again, the trip Rstrikes the lug K, rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, causingthe post 0 to assume a vertical position again. Where the bridgerevolves clear around instead of halfway and back, stationary rods ortrips B would not answer for the closing and opening, of the gate. Itherefore pivot the trip n to the bottom of the floor of the bridge orto piece S at point T, and fasten it to the endless chain U, whichpasses around the pulleys V, and is also attached to hand-wheel or alever, W, which is so placed that the motion that rings a gong or bellto warn parties that the bridge is going to open may operate the chainsor rods U, and with them the trip R, which strikes against the lug L andcloses the gate before the bridge moves. As the bridge moves around, themotion of lever or wheel is reversed, throwing the trip R far enougharound on its pivot to clear the lug K as they swing past in closing,when the lever can be reversed and the trip R caused to strike lug K onits inner side and. open the gate again.

The arm G is concealed, in practice, beneath a floor or covering havinga hole large enough for post 0 to play through, but only cut away farenough on the inside to fall to about an angle of forty five degrees,when the side of the cut-away part acts as a stop.

My gate can also be used as a farm-gate or at railroad-crossings as wellas at bridges.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. In gates to close the approach to bridges, the gateA, post 0, rock-shaft G, and lugs K L, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The gate A, pivoted on the vibrating post 0 and having the shiftinggravitating weight D attached to its rear end, as and for the purposeset forth.

3. The combination, with the gates A A, rock-shafts G G, posts 0, andlugs K L M N, of the trips R R on the bridge, as and for the purpose setforth.

4. The combination, with gates A A, posts 0 O, rock-shaft G, having lugsbelow it, and rock-shaft G, having lugs on its upper side, of the tripsR R on the bridge, one mounted above the other, as and for the purposeset forth.

5. The combination, with the lugs on the rock-shaft of gate A, of thetrips on the bridge and lever W, by means of which and the connectingmechanisin the trips are made to operate the gate, as and for thepurpose set forth.

CHARLES K. CORDREY.

\Vitnesses:

E. K. CAMPBELL, NED CAMPBELL.

